Employer pension plans (trusteed pension funds), second quarter 2012

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The market value of Canadian employer-sponsored pension funds totaled $1.1 trillion at the end of the second quarter, down 1.0% from the previous quarter. It was the first decline since the third quarter of 2011.

Pension fund investments in stocks declined 6.0% in the second quarter, following a similar drop in the value of shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange for the same period. This decline was offset in part by a 2.0% increase in the value of bond holdings.

Declines in the value of foreign stocks, bonds and short-term investments reduced the total value of foreign investments by 4.3%. Canadian assets rose 0.6% with an increase in value of Canadian bond holdings.

Revenues in the second quarter fell 25.7%, the result of reduced profits on the sale of securities and declines in employer contributions. Net income fell from $22.6 billion to $7.2 billion, as $5.3 billion in losses on the sale of securities drove expenditures up by 40.8%.

Pension fund contributions fell 7.6% to $12.6 billion in the second quarter. Benefits paid to retirees increased 3.4% to $11.5 billion.

Just over six million Canadian workers are members of employer pension plans. Of this group, five million workers are members of trusteed plans. The remaining one million members with employer pension plans are managed principally by insurance company contracts. Data in this release refer only to trusteed plans and their pension funds.

Available without charge in CANSIM: tables CANSIM table280-0002 to 280-0004.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number survey number2607.

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (613-951-4636; statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@canada.ca).